St Andrews Psalter Lane Church
Property and Finance Committee Annual Report 1st April 2022 – 31st March 2023
The P&F committee met 4 times during the period.
Property
Quinquennial Inspection: Various issues were highlighted and progress since 2020 is as follows:
Essential in next 12 month (likely to cost £7000 - £9000):
- Fire protection to doors in Shirley House (Fire retarding paint is being applied to the doors)
- Repairs to rainwater pipes, eaves gutters and timbers to Shirley House (Still to be done)
- Reconstruct cellar entrance at Shirley House (Still need to seek clarification on what’s needed)
Essential in next 5 years (inc work at Shirley House- likely to cost £10 000-£15 000):
- Rising dampness in Church (Still to be done)
- Repairs to fleche (spire) to roof (See separate item)
- Penetrating dampness in toilets in Church (Leaks probably repaired, redecoration required)
- Dampness in Shirley House porch. (Still to be done)
There were no items of the utmost urgency, advisable within 5 years or requiring further investigation.
Our experience is that the cost of work considerably exceeds the surveyor’s estimations.
Other issues
- Leak into creche in Church (Work on flashings required? )
- Decorating of kitchen ceiling (To cure mould, needs to be done)
- Vestry and rear meeting rooms (All in need of repairs to plaster works and decoration)
- Church kitchen water boiler (New circuit board on order)
Shirley House
Leases:
- Rent reviews were carried out for rooms 5, 6 and 8 with no change. Home Instead moved out of rooms 5 and 6 on 28th February 20223 and Shedco moved in on 1st March 2023.
- It was decided that it would not be economic for us install separate electricity meters in the offices.
Church:
Spire:
- The fleche, which is an important feature of the Church roof, is in a poor state of repair. Tom Crooks whom we appointed as architect arranged a survey in April of the structure using a cherry picker and internal scaffolding tower to allow access by the architect, a structural engineer and a metal roofing specialist. He then created a detailed specification for the renovation works and invited tenders from 3 experienced contractors. The lowest quote implied the need to raise £135,000 to carry out the repairs. It was pointed out that there was a danger of the spire becoming unsafe if repairs were delayed beyond the summer of 2023. On 30th November ECC appointed a 6-person spire restoration group to raise the funds and progress the project. Removal of the Spire was considered, but we were advised that as the building is listed, this would infringe planning regulations. Applications for funding were submitted to 10 potential funders and it was decided to allocate £35,000 from our own reserves for the project. A local appeal for £25,000 was launched on 26th February, including a PowerPoint presentation, leaflets that were delivered to all addresses in the parish and articles written for Edge and local newspapers, the website and social media.
The local appeal surpassed the target, so by 4th April we had sufficient funds and the contractor is expecting to start work on the 5th June. We are grateful to all funders and everyone who donated. We will hold a community Garden Party with music, games, bouncy castle and refreshments to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the LEP, the spire project and the coronation. The Kenwood Hall Hotel kindly agreed that this would be held there on the afternoon Monday 8th May.
Other issues
- We needed to renew/replace gas and electricity supply contracts. In response to the large increase in gas prices, we have managed, by making frequent adjustments to the heating system, significantly to reduce our consumption of gas. In view of this saving we decided to replace the remaining lights in the nave with LED lamps.
- It is expected that the light box to better illuminate the Morris School stained glass in the Narthex will be completed at the beginning of May 2023, funded by an anomynous donation.
- In view of the high cost, it was decided to abandon plans for a fixed stairway to provide access to the roof space, and continue to hire a scaffolding tower when access is required.
- We have received a donation which will enable us to install a photovoltaic solar panel system on the roof of Shirley House. We thanked Sheffield renewables for their proposals for a system.
- The Church live-streaming equipment, including an ethernet cable was purchased and is in use. We received a donation that will enable us to improve the sound and live-streaming facilites. We need to train more operators for the live streaming, TV screens and sound controls.
- The St Andrews Psalter Lane Music Festival took place in November.
- The fees for weddings and funerals and for the hire of rooms were reviewed and increased.
- Dawn Cripps was engaged to clean Shirley House and the Church in Debbie’s absence.
- We have registered the Church and Shirley House as food providers with the Sheffield Council Food Safety Service. The times the kitchens are cleaned are recorded.
- Various policies were reviewed and updated as necessary.
- Annual licenses for Quaker and Bethesda Fellowship worship in Shirley House were registered.
St Andrews Church Centre
- The rent is being paid but attempts to carry out an inspection have so far been unsuccessful.
Grounds:
- Garden working parties were organised on the first Saturday of each month. A large branch fell from the oak tree near the Cherry Tree Road gate in September 2022 and snow loading caused a large bush to fall into Cherry Tree Road in March. We need to organise a grass mowing rota.
- We decided to place a decorated Christmas tree on the porch roof.
Health and Safety Issues:
- Yorkshire Ambulance Service should provide training for the use of the defibrillator.
JCC 11th April 2023